Not an Alexment
by tilante
Summary: Justin's tired of Alex getting away with everything - and he's in charge while Jerry and Theresa are gone.  Can he manage to catch up with Alex and actually give her a real punishment?  No romance, just family.  Not an "Alex Gets Punished"-verse story.
1. Chapter 1

"Okay," Jerry said. "I think that's everything."

"Have you got your phone?" Justin asked, frowning as he tried to look over what his parents were carrying. _Feels more like I'm the parent, some days._ He restrained the sigh that he felt as his Dad checked.

"Yeah, got it."

"Plane tickets?"

"I've got those," Theresa said as she walked over from the kitchen. "They're in my purse." She joined Jerry at the door, and the two of them both looked at their eldest child.

"Well," Jerry said, smiling a little, "I know I don't have to tell you to behave. Keep an eye on Alex and Max. Remember, you're in charge. Don't let Alex push you around. You know how your sister can be."

"Can you _not_ talk about me like I'm not here?" Alex asked from the couch.

Ignoring that, Justin said, "I won't," and nodded. "We'll see you on Sunday. Have a good time."

Theresa moved forward to hug Justin then, and Alex and Max both came over for their hugs, albeit with visible reluctance in Alex's case. Then it was their dad's turn to hug them, and they all went down the stairs together to see their parents off.

"Glad that's over with. I hate goodbyes." Justin raised an eyebrow at Alex as he closed the door behind them.

"Funny, you've never seemed to hate them before," he said.

Alex rolled her eyes, pulled out her wand as she did. "Well, that's because then it was _me_ leaving. It's more fun to be the one who's going somewhere, instead of being stuck in this old dump. And speaking of going somewhere..."

She twirled her wand, the tip glowing, and Justin jumped toward her, making a grab for it. "_Alex!_" he cried out, but he was too late - she was gone before he could reach her.

Catching himself, Justin put a hand to his forehead, crossing his other arm across his chest. "Great. They haven't been gone for five minutes yet, and already Alex is going out without permission. I can see how much respect my authority's going to get."

"What?" From across the room, Max looked up from where he was already making a sandwich.

Justin waved a hand at him, said, "Never mind. I've got to go find where our darling sister has gone. Just don't go anywhere."

"Wasn't going to," Max said. "I'm planning on spending my day on the couch. There's a marathon on TV."

"A marathon of wha -" Justin started, then realized that, knowing Max, he was probably better off not knowing. "Okay," he said instead. "Have fun. I'll be back with Alex shortly."

Max said something in return, but Justin didn't really hear it as he tapped his chin with the tip of his wand. _If I were Alex, where would I go? What am I saying? I can't think like Alex. _Justin raised an eyebrow, then smiled and nodded. _But I can check with an expert._ Justin set off up the stairs quickly, heading for Alex's room.

Ten minutes later, Justin had everything he needed - a picture of Alex, her hairbrush, and an outfit of hers laid out on the bed. Turning his back to the bed, Justin intoned the spell he'd worked out. "_I could find Alex all alone, but it'd be much easier with the help of a clone._"

He waved his wand, smiled as the saw the flare of light from the tip, then cringed at the shriek from behind him, even though he'd expected it.

"_Justin! _What are you doing in my room when I'm _naked!_"

"Alex, calm down. I'm not facing you, I can't see anything. You should know that you're not the real Alex - you're a clone I've made to help me find her. There are clothes for you on the bed. Put them on."

A sarcastic "Yeah," came back. "Like I'd do anything because _you_ tell me to!"

Justin sighed and tilted his head back a little to look up at the ceiling, his hands behind his back. "I don't think you really want to run around naked just to spite me. So go ahead and get dressed, since we both know that's what you're going to wind up doing."

There was a moment's silence, then Alex said, "All right. But I want you to know, you have no taste in putting together outfits."

"That's exactly what you wore on Tuesday last week."

"Exactly! You know how they say an outfit's so yesterday? Well, this one's even worse than that - it's so _last Tuesday!_"

Justin bit back a retort, closed his eyes. _What made me think this was a good idea?_ Instead, he said, "Alex teleported out as soon as Mom and Dad were gone. Where was she going?"

"_I_ don't know. I'm just a clone. The last thing I remember, I was brushing my hair."

"Were you thinking about going anywhere then?"

"No… wait, I know! Oh, and you can turn around now." Justin did so. The cone was pulling on her - no, Alex's - boots.

"Where?"

"Well…." Alex leaned back, putting her hands on the bed, and smiled at Justin. "Why should I help you? There doesn't really seem to be anything in this helping you thing for me. As soon as I tell you where to go, you'll probably just cancel the spell, and I'll be gone."

"Well," Justin replied with a small smile, "_You're_ not the real Alex. So if you help me get the real one back here, _you_ can go wherever she was going to go." He paused, frowned, then added. "As long as it isn't anything illegal. Or anything that's going to cause if she's seen there."

The clone looked at him, then nodded. "Deal." She tilted her head to the side, then asked, "Have you been taking sneaky lessons or something? Because you're seeming more devious than usual today."

"From you, I'll take that as a compliment. So, tell me. Where's Alex?"


	2. Chapter 2

"You think I'm just going to _tell_ you?" Alex's clone gave Justin a skeptical look, folding her arms across her chest as she did. "Uh-uh. I do that, and you just pop off and get her, then dismiss me. No. Not gonna happen."

Justin closed his eyes, took a breath, let it out. _I should have figured that her clone would be just as aggravating as the real thing._ "What do you propose, then?" he asked as he opened his eyes, only the slightest tinge of what he was feeling edging into his tone.

"First, you're going to take me shopping. Then -"

Shaking his head, Justin answered her with a flat, "No." A little startled, Alex's clone blinked at him, and he shook his head again. "It's bad enough that Alex doesn't respect me. I'm not putting up with this from you. Either our deal goes forward as we already made it, or..." Justin tapped his wand against his other hand, "I just dismiss you, and go back to finding Alex on my own. Which is it?"

The clone stared at him for a moment, then smiled. "Wow. Way to grow a pair, bro. Okay, then. I'll take us there." Justin opened his mouth, and Alex held up a hand. "It's easier than trying to describe to you where to go."

Justin sighed, then nodded. "Okay. Whatever." The clone reached out for Justin's wand, and he pulled it away from her, grabbed her other hand with his free one, then moved the wand back where she could take it. "I'm not dumb enough to let you just go there without a little insurance that you're going to take me along," he said, gripping her hand tightly. "Now you can -"

Alex's clone made a twirling gesture with the wand, point up, and Justin's "-take us there," came out with them already standing on an immaculately trimmed green lawn, between two trees - one of which was mostly screening them from the road. "Where are we?" he asked then.

"Long Island," she replied. "Suffolk."

"Okay... and what is Alex doing here?"

The clone rolled her eyes. "What _else_ would Alex be doing here? She's going to a party, of course." She started walking, making a good clip, and Justin had to hurry for a moment to catch up. "Crashing a party, I should say."

"Crashing..." Justin frowned. "Whose party?"

"Duh. Who do we know that's rich enough to live down here, and throws parties, and who I hate?"

Justin's brow creased as he thought, then his eyes opened wide. "Gigi Hollingsworth?"

"Hey! Got it in one! There might be hope for you yet!"

"But... Alex hates Gigi, and they don't run in the same crowd at all. So why -" As Justin spoke, they emerged onto a street, and the clone looked up and down it, then turned left, making a beeline for a long, low, modern-architecture house. An artificial stream ran in front of it, burbling down a series of cascading waterfalls.

"Nice place," Justin said, raising his eyebrows a little, then resumed. "why would Alex -"

"Gigi hates Alex too, remember? So she decided to politely invite the new kid in school to her party."

"New kid? What new kid?"

"Hope levels falling." The clone picked her way across the carefully-manicured lawn, made a little hop onto the first of the stepping stones across the stream. "Mason. Since she found out Alex is dating him now, of course Gigi has to try to do something about that. So Alex is going to crash her party and mess it up."

"Great," Justin mumbled as he crossed the stream as well, more carefully. "Parties, boyfriends, backstabbing, parties, and revenge. I feel like I've stumbled into a teen comedy."

"What?" The clone looked back at Justin.

He shook his head, said, "Nothing. Lead me to the party. Cue the property damage and screaming."

* * *

Author's Note: Yeah, I know this is a short one. I'm getting over a bit of writer's block I've had the last week or so, for various reasons. Hoping things will flow better soon...


	3. Chapter 3

They circled around to the back of Gigi's house, where they found the party in full swing. There were at least thirty people just there in the back yard, formed up into small, tight clusters. _Wow. Looks like every movie party I've ever seen. Why don't I ever get invited to parties like this? _Looking about, Justin recognized around two-thirds of the people there, figured the others must be people Gigi knew from other places than school. _Or crashers like us. Might have found out about it through Facebook or something._

No one seemed to notice that they'd walked in from around the side, too busy in their little groups to look at anything else. "Do you see Alex?" Justin whispered to the clone as he checked for her himself.

"No," she answered. "She's not going to be out here anyway. Gigi'll be inside, so that's where Alex'll be. Come on." She grabbed Justin by the wrist and started toward the door. He hesitated for a moment, sheer habit making him resist being taken anywhere by her, then shook his head and followed. _You made her to help you find Alex. So let her help._

The back door came into what was technically a 'breakfast nook', but was as large as the Russo's whole dining area at home. It was fairly empty, populated solely by a dark-haired boy who appeared to have fallen asleep with his head on the table. However, it was next to the kitchen, in which half a dozen partygoers were congregated, leaning against the cabinets and talking, while a couple of others worked around them, grabbing chips, salsa, and drinks.

Justin was a little surprised that there didn't seem to be any alcohol in evidence - although, of course, just because he hadn't seen it didn't mean there wasn't any. _And I doubt that Mr. Sleepy there got that way from warm milk. _The clone continued to lead the way forward, through a short hallway that went past a half-open staircase, into the living area.

Here was where the main crowd was - people sitting, people standing, music blaring, a few people dancing. "There," the clone said, pointing across the room. Justin looked at the small blonde she was pointing at and frowned.

"That's not Alex. What are you -"

The clone rolled her eyes. "She's _in disguise,_ duh. If Gigi or the Wannabees saw her, they'd throw her out. Now, since I found her for you, I'm heading off. See you later!"

Justin put a hand on her arm before she could slip away. "Be back home before sunrise. You disappear then."

She frowned at him. "If I'm just going to disappear, why does it matter whether I'm back?"

"_You'll_ disappear, but the _clothes_ you're wearing are real, and if I lose those for Alex, I'll never hear the end of it. So you're bringing them back. Got it?" He looked her in the eyes, and she nodded.

"Got it. Later." Justin let go of the clone's wrist, and she slipped away into the crowd. Meanwhile, he threaded his way through, circling around behind a couch, keeping his eye on the blonde who the clone had identified as Alex. She was looking across the room - staring, really - and Justin followed her gaze.

_Who's that? Oh - Gigi._ It had been a while since Justin had seen her, and she'd apparently let her hair darken a bit, to more of a brown instead of her previous blonde, although it was still long and curly, like before. She'd also filled out a little, and Justin found himself staring at her for a moment.

Possibly more than a moment, since the next thing he knew, Justin was being jabbed in the arm. "_What the hell are you doing here? And why are you _staring_ at _Gigi_?"_


	4. Chapter 4

It took a moment for Justin's brain to connect the little blonde who was glaring up at him to Alex. "Oh, uh… I just haven't seen her in a while."

"Yeah… that's why you're staring at her _boobs_?" she hissed. "I don't think they're even real." She looked at Gigi as well for a moment, her expression openly hostile, then back up to Justin. "So… you didn't come all the way out here, to a party you weren't invited to, to stare at Gigi. At least, I certainly hope you didn't. So why -"

"No, I didn't. I came here to get you, and bring you back home. You're not supposed to be here. And -"

"Oh, I _cannot _ believe you're doing this! Here - come on." Alex grabbed Justin by his upper arm, dragged him into the kitchen, then opened the basement door, pushed Justin in, followed him in and closed the door behind them.

"I'm not leaving here," she said emphatically. "Not while Mason is still here. If you drag me out of here, I'll just come right back. So just go on home, and I'll be back when I'm back."

Justin crossed his arms and shook his head. "No, Alex. That's not how it's going to work. You're going to come home -"

Alex threw up her hands. "No! No, I'm not, Justin! Just because Mom and Dad left you in charge, that doesn't mean -"

Rolling his eyes, Justin stepped forward, grabbed Alex by the back of the head, then covered her mouth with his other hand. Her eyes went wide and she made noises into his hand, while Justin hissed out. "Alex, you're going to listen to me. The rest of the sentence I was just saying is, 'after I help you get Mason out of here.'"

He let go of Alex, and she blinked at him. "Wait - what?"

"I'm the responsible adult in charge. That means I'm responsible for your well-being. Not just your physical well-being, but your emotional well-being too. So, we get Mason out of here, and then you don't need to be here, and you come home. And, hey, invite Mason over if you want. And I'm not going to ask you if this is a deal. This is what's happening. Understood?"

For a moment, Alex just looked at him disbelievingly - but then she smiled. "Wow. Who are you, and what did you do with the real Justin?" She waved her hand as he opened his mouth. "Never mind. Understood. Now…."

She stood, tapped her chin for a second, said, "Okay. Here's the plan…."

Ten minutes later, as Justin was moving into position, he still couldn't believe he was going along with this. _Well, it's not a bad plan _per se. _It's quite likely to be effective. I'll worry about the ethics of it later._

There was Gigi, right where he'd left her. _Well, I didn't really leave her there. Although - stop. Never mind. Think calm, cool, and collected. Especially the cool part._ This time, he noticed who was with Gigi - namely, Mason, standing and giving his usual polite smile, politely answering Gigi's conversational forays with that British accent that all the girls seemed to love.

_I can do a British accent. It's not that hard. Wonder if I should try that sometime?_ _Well... right now, I'm not going to need it. _He looked at the glass in Gigi's hand, wondered if Alex had carried out her part of the plan yet, and why he'd agreed to it in the first place. _To get Alex to come home. And because I know she's better at being sneaky and underhanded than I am._

He leaned back against the wall, letting the party flow around him, still watching Mason and Gigi. Justin had, of course, studied kinesics, and from the way Mason was tilting his head to the side as he listened to Gigi's monologue, his monosyllabic responses, and how he kept fiddling with pocket, it was obvious that Mason wasn't interested in her.

Looking back to Gigi, Justin studied her for a moment as well - or tried to. _She's got such a pretty face. It's really too bad she's such a bitch to Alex. _Suddenly realizing that he was staring again, Justin turned away, threaded around the room to the kitchen, went in and grabbed himself a Coke from the fridge. _The hell with it. In for a penny, in for a pound, as we Brits say,_ he thought, trying out his prospective accent in his head. _It's not like they can't afford an extra Coke._

Popping open the top and taking a sip, Justin leaned against the wall and wondered why Gigi had invited Mason in the first place.

_I don't get it? Sure, he's good-looking, and he's got the accent, but he doesn't really have anything in common with her. Does he?_ Now that he thought about it, Justin really didn't know a lot about Mason, beyond the basics - British, werewolf, artist, dating Alex. _Is she really doing this just to spite Alex?_

He felt a touch on his arm, turned to look at the little blonde, and again it took him a moment to recognize Alex in her transformed state. "You did it?" he asked, and she gave him a 'duh' look.

"Of course I did it. I'm good at this kind of thing, remember. Time for you to make your move, big brother."

"All right," Justin said. "Here goes nothing." He started across the room, this time striding boldly toward Gigi, no longer trying to avoid attention, but rather, to attract it. _If I'm going to be the distraction, I'm going to be a bloody - quit that - darned good one._

_

* * *

_Author's Note: Sorry that it's been a while on this one, but I'm back to it! In other random news, I now have a LiveJournal, also as Tilante, where I'll be posting updates and such about what I'm writing._  
_


	5. Chapter 5

As Justin strode across the room, he certainly did attract attention. He deliberately walked like he owned the place, lifting his chin a little and fixing his eyes on Gigi as he made a bee-line for her. It took a second before she noticed him and looked. The look became a stare, and Gigi's mouth opened slightly as she licked her lips, then glanced toward Mason for a moment.

_Don't know when the bit did it, but Alex obviously got the potion into Gigi's drink. The bit? Is that British?_ Justin could feel the effect himself, a cloud of butterflies stirring in his stomach as he looked at her. She turned her eyes back to him again, and when they met, the thrill that went through Justin was almost electric. Justin's hands twitched, and one eyebrow moved in almost imperceptibly as he concentrated.

_Focus. The love potion affects us both, but I know what it is. All I need to do is get Gigi away from Mason, and that should be bloody simple - stop it - with this._ Thinking of Mason, Justin tore his eyes from Gigi, looked to the dark-haired werewolf... and then blinked.

_Oh no. No. Tell me Alex didn't..._ But she had, he was certain. The way Mason was looking at him was all too disturbingly like the way Gigi had just been, and... and Justin could feel the butterflies as he looked at Mason as well, and _that_ was well beyond creepy.

Justin broke off from his approach vector to Gigi, eyes scanning the crowd for the little blonde who Alex was being as his brain screamed _Mayday! Mayday! Abort! Abort!_

That was only part of his brain, though. Justin being Justin, another part was thinking quickly, trying to find a way to salvage this. _Okay. Either they were sharing a drink (unsanitary, but he _is_ a wolf), or they swapped some of the potion in another way -_

_Don't go there_, part of his brain was saying, but under the effects of the potion, it was pretty much impossible not to, and Justin stopped for a moment as images of Mason and Gigi kissing deeply went through his head. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment, but that didn't help at all, so he opened them again and started to turn in place, resuming his search for Alex.

_Or Alex just dumped the potion in both of their drinks, because she didn't know which was whose, and... and she's Alex_, he finished. _Consequences? That's what _other_ people deal with. _Justin gritted his teeth and swore under his breath, promising himself that Alex was going to be suffering some consequences once they were out of here.

That was when the tap came on his shoulder, and Justin turned to it, feeling a surge of relief. _Good. Alex realized I was looking for her, and -_

And there was Gigi, standing there looking up at him. Her eyes were blue at the edges, but hazel in the middle, he suddenly realized, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever seen such pretty eyes in his - _no, no, that's the potion talking. Stop listening._

"Justin?" she said then. "I don't remember inviting you."

"I'm sure you didn't," another voice said. Justin recognized it as one of the wannabees, but he couldn't bring himself to take his eyes from Gigi to look at her, whichever one it was. "After all, why would you -"

"That's right, you didn't," Justin fielded, trying a smile. It came to his face all too easily. "But let's face it. We both know you wanted me here, Gigi. You just couldn't bring yourself to admit it."

Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment, Justin thought he'd pushed too hard, that her pride would overcome the potion-induced love. Then it didn't matter, as a strong hand grabbed him by the shoulder, turned him around. There was Mason, his face a scowling mask. For a moment, he and Justin stared at each other, and then Mason said, "I'll take care of the crasher for you. I can get him out of here."

For a moment, Justin felt an urge to go with Mason - to go _anywhere_ with Mason - but he stomped on that feeling hard, tilted his head back a little to look down at Mason. "_You _should be doing something else. Like, say, spending time with your girlfriend. You remember her? My _sister?_"


	6. Chapter 6

Justin was trying hard for an intimidating stare, but quickly discovering that this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd hoped. For one thing, while he was taller than Mason, Mason didn't really seem to care about that. Instead, he bared his teeth just a little, flared his nostrils, and stared intently back at Justin.

_Okay. Playing dominance games with a pack animal, not the best idea. No good way to back out now, though, so..._ Justin stood up a little straighter, raising himself to his full height, and returned the expression, staring back, all the while trying to ignore the feelings in his stomach and the interesting way that Mason's eyes caught the light. _Don't try it, wolf-boy, _he thought instead. _In human form, you're not any tougher than I am. And if you change in front of all these people, well... I won't be the one revealing magic then, and if I can use my magic, I _will_ tear you apart._

Focusing on that thought, he took a step closer to Mason, looming over him now, taking full advantage of his extra height. Mason actually _growled_ then, and Justin felt an answering growl welling up in his chest when Gigi interrupted.

"Mason," she said, putting her hand on Mason's shoulder, "quit it. I may not have invited Justin, but he's here now..." She paused, then tossed her head a little, flouncing her hair, and smiled. "And I can be gracious enough to let him stay." She reached and touched Justin's elbow, with just the tips of two fingers, smiled up at him.

Justin let a smile slip onto his own face as he looked down into Gigi's blue-and-hazel eyes. Then he turned and looked into Mason's brown orbs. Those eyes were narrowed, Mason's nostrils still flared. The shorter boy licked his lips slightly, looking straight into Justin's eyes as he did, then nodded once.

"Well then - our hostess says you may stay, so it appears that's settled." Mason didn't move back, though, and neither did Justin.

Giving Mason a tight smile, Justin said, "Well, thank you so bloody much. Now, as I was saying before, shouldn't you be somewhere else?" Without any conscious intent to do so, Justin found himself gripping Mason's upper arm. _Now why did I do that?_

Deliberately, he let go of Mason's arm, giving the werewolf a push as he did. Mason bared his teeth again. "You. Do not. Tell me. What to do." Around them, others were starting to whisper, and Justin heard low, urgent whispers: _Fight. Fight. Fight._

_What the hell am I doing? This isn't what I'm here for._ Gigi was looking a little worried now, glancing around the room. A voice hissed into Justin's ear, saying, "_What the hell, Justin?"_ and he recognized it as Alex's.

"Come on," Justin said, jerking his head toward the stairs, trying to calm himself. _Focus. Don't let the pressure of the crowd guide you._ Lower, he said, "I know you don't want to back down in front of the crowd. So, let's get away from the crowd, where we can calm down and talk about this."

Mason looked at Justin for a moment, then nodded again, less sharply then before. "All right. Upstairs, then." Justin turned and started that way immediately. _Keep the lead. The alpha doesn't follow._ Deliberately, Justin dropped his hand down as he started forward, took Gigi's hand in his. The touch felt good, her hand warm in his, and she came along, both from the effects of the potion and from curiosity. He smiled again, keeping himself ahead of Gigi and to the side, using her as interference to keep Mason from getting to the stairs before him.

Then he was on the stairs, moving up. They were wide enough for two, which was another reason to bring Gigi with him - to keep Mason from trying to push past him there. "Which one's your room?" he asked as they walked, but didn't stop, didn't let Gigi get in front.

"There," she said, pointing, and Justin went to the door, opened it, then blinked. There was a couple on Gigi's bed, making out, the girl's top on the floor, although her bra was still on.

Gigi opened her mouth to say something, but Justin held up a hand and stepped in. _I'll have to be the one to handle this if I'm going to stay in charge right now._ "Out," he said, putting a bit of bite into his voice. "Now."

The couple got off the bed quickly, the girl covering her chest with one arm as she stooped to pick up her shirt. She looked at Justin, and he gave her a nod. She stood, turning her back to them, pulled her shirt back on, then hurried out after the boy. Mason had come in during this, and Justin let go of Gigi's hand, nodded toward the door. "Close it," he said, looking into her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

Gigi moved to the door without taking her eyes from Justin's, laid her hand flat against it and pushed until the latch clicked into place. Eyes still on his, she moved her hand down to the doorknob, then locked the door, licking her lips as she did.

A thrill ran through Justin at that, but he took his eyes from her with an effort. "I didn't come here to fight you, Mason," he said then, looking at the other boy. "I'm here to tell you that your girlfriend, my sister, isn't happy about you being here. Now, if you want to be -"

"If you want everyone to know how whipped you are by your girlfriend," Gigi put in with malicious glee, "then go ahead and leave, and I'll make sure everyone knows."

Justin turned his head slowly back toward Gigi, considering as he did. _Need to get her out of this. And there's only one thing I have to use on her right now - the love potion._ "Gigi, come here," he said aloud.

She frowned at him, visibly torn between an impulse to obey, and her need to mess with Alex via Mason. Justin could move over to her, but would that be conceding power to her? And, of course, every moment he spent struggling with Gigi was another moment that Alex was stewing downstairs, and Justin knew quite well that patience was not his sister's strong suit. _A couple more minutes, and she'll be doing something else. I need -_

Justin laughed then, suddenly, and both Gigi and Mason looked puzzled as he lifted one foot from the floor and said, "_Geilsjay Timesday_." Immediately, everything froze around him, and Justin lifted his foot high, took hold of his ankle with one hand, then leaned against the wall with the other.

Thus assured that he wouldn't put his foot down quickly, Justin took a minute to think. _All right. Mason's got the love potion in him, so, as unsettling as the thought is, he's in love with me right now. That means he's going to want to stay near me, so he's going to keep fighting against leaving if I stay. _On the other hand, though, Justin thought his best bet to keep Gigi from telling would be to spend some time here with her and persuade her not to tell.

_Of course, part of that may be the love potion talking too. But you know what? At this point, I'm not even sure I care. Okay. I think I've got my plan. Here goes._

Taking out his cell phone, Justin began to type a text to Alex, thinking as he did of how he was going to need to arrange things.

* * *

Three minutes later - or what seemed like it to him - Justin hopped back into position, put away his wand, and moved into a position as close as he could remember to how where he'd been and how he'd been standing when he'd stopped time. He held his phone in the hand where he'd had his wand, then set his foot down, looking down at it.

"What did you just say?" Gigi asked immediately, shaking her head a little at him. Justin pocketed the phone and looked back up at her.

"I said, 'good time for a text, eh?'" he offered, and while Gigi looked doubtful at that, he moved closer to her before she had a chance to say more, then quietly said, "Look. Everyone here saw you come upstairs with me." Tilting his head toward the door, he continued. "I'm willing to bet there's a dozen people on the other side of that door right now, including your wannabees, wondering just what we're doing in here with the door locked."

Gigi shot a glance toward the door, and Justin felt sorry for her as he saw the expression on her face, but continued regardless. "Now, we can come up with a story that people might buy about how you had to come up here to keep Mason and I from fighting. Or, you can tell people that story you wanted to tell about Mason being whipped, and I'll just come up with my own story about what the three of us were doing up here." He shrugged a little, then smiled, said, "And I really don't think you'll like my story."

There was a pause as the two of them looked at each other, and then Gigi narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't."

"Care to bet on that?" Justin said, giving her the nastiest smile he could manage. "Alex and I may not always get along, but she's family. I watch out for her."

Gigi and Justin stared at each other for another few seconds, Justin trying to fight to keep from swallowing. _I shouldn't have done it this way. She's not going to go for it. Dammit..._ His fingers twitched a little, and he inched his hand toward his wand, keeping his eyes on Gigi's... and then she nodded suddenly, just one quick nod.

"All right. We'll do it that way." She looked around for Mason, and Justin feigned doing so as well, then said, "Well, he must've taken my advice while we were having out little staring competition, and left."

"Well, in that case," Gigi started, and Justin felt his heart sink as she smiled the same smile she always made when she was pulling something on Alex - "I can do this," she finished, and Justin's eyes went wide as she stepped to him and stretched up on tiptoe to kiss him.

* * *

"There you are!" Alex stood up from the couch in the Lair, frowning at Justin. "What took you so long?"

"I couldn't exactly just teleport right out, Alex. I needed to smooth things over with Gigi, and -"

"What?" Alex shook her head quickly, her hair bouncing with it. "Smooth things over? Why?"

"Oh, let me see…." Justin looked up toward the ceiling, stroking his chin. "Because someone had just disappeared from her room, and I had to distract her from that? Because I felt some obligation for getting her hit with the love potion?"

Alex opened her mouth to protest again, but Justin waved both hands at her, crossing his arms. "No. No more about that. I got your boyfriend out of there, like I said I was going to, right?"

"Right, but -"

"No 'but's. I did my end of things, and now it's time for you to pay the piper. You're getting punished."

"Yeah?" Alex crossed her arms and gave Justin a skeptical look. "You already said I could have Mason over. Are you going back on that?"

"No," Justin said, shaking his head. "I've got something else in mind." He grinned slightly, said, "A punishment that Mom and Dad can't just revoke as soon as they get back."

Still looking skeptical, Alex retorted, "Yeah? What? Are you going to spank me or something like that?"

"Oh, after this is over, you'll wish I'd spanked you," Justin said, his grin growing. He shook his head slowly, then said, "No. I had to make some promises in order to get things smoothed over. So, tomorrow, you and Mason get to go on a double date with me and Gigi. Dinner and movie."

Alex's eyes went wide with horror, and she shook her head quickly, said, "No. No. We're not going to -"

Folding his arms with finality, Justin replied, "Oh, you will. You see, I already asked Mason about it, and since he's still crushing on me from the love potion right now, he was just _thrilled_ about the idea."

For a moment, Alex stared at Justin in horror, then opened her mouth again, and Justin shook his head again, said, "No. Dutch. I'm not paying for you two."

"You… you…." Alex shook her head again, stomped her foot with an angry cry, then stormed out of the Lair. For his part, Justin made a satisfied smile, then went over to one wall and muttered to himself, "And just to make sure no one wiggles out of their punishment…."

He opened the wizard fusebox, pulled out the fuses, then cocked his head to listen for the scream. When it came, he sighed happily.

* * *

Author's Note: … and that's a wrap! Sorry it took me a while to get back to this, but I decided to go ahead and plow through to the end, since it had been a while.


End file.
